


Stars

by rambles_N_tumbles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-09-16 16:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9281048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rambles_N_tumbles/pseuds/rambles_N_tumbles
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy mission.All they had to do was land, refill some necessities for the castle, and then leave.No interactions outside of the necessary. No one was supposed to start a fight.Hunk and Shiro were supposed to refill the tanks. Pidge was supposed to charge up the ships energy with Coran.Allura was supposed to translate while Lance and Keith were supposed to monitor.No one was supposed to get hurt.But life doesn't always work that way.





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> "let's throw the paladins on a planet" i said  
> "yeah and have a fluff wrap up" i thought  
> "sure, but its gonna have angst" my hands wrote  
> "oh and klance" my best friend laughed "klance is always good."  
> and this is the result. enjoy.

 

  The strange plant behind the tanks was kind enough to Allura, showing her how to make sure everything was functioning. When Hunk approached, it felt threatened, but Allura calmed it down and explained their situation. It wasn’t enough, and the plant felt threatened, calling for help. Help that had never seen a human before.

  Pidge was the first to yell. A shout towards Shiro before a blast hit the left side of the ship, followed by the roaring of the lions. Sworn to protect their paladins, they emerged from their hangars and that’s when Lance stopped everything. He stopped seeing, only feeling something drag him across the ground as shouts merged into a chaotic rumbling of static in his ears. Struggling, he swung at something, hearing a faint voice calling him as he suddenly felt so weak, and lost everything.

  Cold. The cool, hard metal of the lions brought him back, and Lance felt his consciousness return in time to watch the green lion swing into a alien ship. Voices returned and Lance was bombarded with Hunk’s calls for backup and Shiro’s commands towards the others.

“Too…loud..” Sensing his pain, Blue lowered the voices to a hum, opening a direct line through to Red. Groaning, Lance heard a quiet gasp as the volume rose slightly.

“Lance, you okay?” Keith’s voice was dripping with urgency, panic slightly fading as Lance grumbled back a weak response.

“What’s going on?” Keith sighed, and Lance watched Red deliver the finishing blow to the ships main cannon.

“Ambush. Not intended. Just wrong place at the wrong time.” Lance rubbed his head, and felt Blue purr slightly, an attempt at comforting her paladin. This time, Keith addressed the lion. “Blue, you can bring him around now.”

  Lance felt his lion make her way towards the other lions, steadily as to comfort him, his head still aching from the blast. As she returned herself to the hangar, Lance rose to his feet slowly, taking his time as the other paladin’s voices filled the hall.

“Lance! You had us scared back there, are you okay?” Hunk rushed to his friend’s side, hugging him as gently as possible. Lance groaned from the embrace, but chuckled at the yellow paladins antics.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just dizzy is all.” Shiro sighed in relief, Pidge still looking rather skeptical.

“I don’t care what you say, you’re sitting in the healing pod right now.” Smiling, Lance let himself be dragged into the castle by their smallest paladin, knowing there was no stopping Pidge when their mind was set.

“Okay, okay. Pidge, slow down, my head is still shaking.” Suddenly, Lance felt a hand push him forward. Turning, he saw Keith’s worried gaze meet his. Much gentler than Pidge, Keith pushed Lance gently along towards the healing pods wordlessly, as the other paladins followed quietly.

  When they reached the pods, Allura was setting one up specifically. Spotting them, she smiled, ushering Lance forward.

“Come now, Lance, you must get checked. That was quite the blow you took.” Lance stepped forward, trembling slightly.

“Yeah, thanks guys. I’ll be out in a sec.” Shiro smiled, shaking his head at the teen.

“After that hit? You’re going to be in here at least a tick.” Shrugging slightly, Lance felt the cool wind from the pod envelope him, and drifted off into a sweet sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance awoke long past dinner, with the castle lights dim in the room. Stretching slightly, he heard the quiet hiss of the door opening nearby. Turning, he saw Allura’s smiling face with Keith following closely behind.

“I thought I heard the pod shut off.” Allura chuckled slightly as Lance’s attention was slightly past her, instead meeting Keith’s concerned gaze. “I guess I’ll retreat to my dormitory now. Have a good night’s rest, you two.”

Leaving them, Keith waited until the door hissed shut before stomping towards Lance, a different fire burning in his gaze. Lance shivered slightly, and when Keith smacked his arm, he yelped.

“What the heck was that for?!” Keith groaned, throwing his head back.

“For scaring the daylights out of me! You know how terrifying it is to watch your best friend get knocked out right beside you!? It’s not the best thing ever!” Lance watched Keith shout, knowing there was no helping him get out of this lecture. Instead, he sighed, stretching his arms above him as Keith rambled on angrily. Keith however, after realizing Lance was no longer listening, took to watching him quietly.

“What?” Lance froze, arm behind his back in the middle of rolling his shoulders when he noticed Keith’s gaze was less cold and directed right at him.

“I was worried.” Keith crossed his arms, making a weak attempt to pry his eyes away from Lance’s.

Lance closed the distance between the two in seconds, pulling the shorter paladin into his chest. He rested his head atop Keith’s, feeling the red paladin sigh into his embrace.

“What would I have done if something had happened to you?” Lance chuckled, the rumble sending Keith’s heart thumping erratically.

“I dunno, probably keep kicking ass. You don’t lose that fire because of me, y’know.” Keith shoved him away weakly, watching Lance laugh loudly with a fond smile. Tugging his sleeve, Keith took a step towards the door.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith helped Lance to his bedroom with full intentions of going to his room afterwards, but with one look from Lance he found himself laying on the others bed, staring at the ceiling as Lance played with his hand. Keith was half asleep, grumbling to himself mentally to get back to his own room before Lance broke the silence.

“What if something happened to me.” His voice was hushed, as though revealing a secret to Keith. Turning slightly on the mattress, Keith watched the emotions flicker through Lance’s eyes. He wanted to know everything, all the reasons behind those emotions, but sat quietly. Letting Lance take his time was the only way to get more out of him. “You would be fine without me.”

“What are you talking about?” Keith urged him, not moving as Lance’s grip on his right hand suddenly became tighter.

“You’re an incredible fighter. Shiro is a natural leader. Pidge is a genius and Hunk can disassemble anything and reassemble it better than ever before.” He loosened his grip on Keith’s hand, letting it fall. “You’re all brilliant people, what have I got? Nothing.”

“Shut up.” Keith sat up, gripping Lance’s face between his hands firmly. “Shut up right now. You are an incredible pilot, a fantastic listener and the best person I could ever ask for to be my best friend. You are not allowed to think lowly of yourself, do you understand?” Behind the bluntness, Lance knew there was a true kindness to Keith’s words, wrapping him up in the coldest parts of his mind.  
”But-” Lance tried, but Keith pressed a kiss -harsh and quick and a bit messy- to his lips, silencing him.

“I don’t give a damn what anyone says, you are incredible and that’s that.” Lance couldn’t help the blush rising to his cheeks, but the voice deep within him grumbled. Calling him names and harsh words, Lance felt tears prickling his eyes.

“What if the entire world tells me so? What then?” Keith felt his shoulders sag before stroking Lance’s cheeks with unconditional kindness.

“So then we tell the world to fuck off. The world can kiss my ass, you are incredible and so long as the world is round and there are stars in the sky you will be so. You are the most amazing person I have ever met in my life and the world doesn’t deserve someone as beautiful as you, Lance. Do I make myself clear?”

Lance laughed, a genuine throaty laugh, and nodded. Keith smiled, letting their lips merge once more.

This time, it was as incredible as the stars in the sky.

And Lance wouldn’t trade it for the world.


	2. Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask and you shall receive! Keith POV now up and running lol thanks for sticking around folks and I'll see you at the end~

It was supposed to be an easy mission.  
There was no reason for the beings living on that planet to feel threatened by the paladins, but they did.  
There shouldn’t have been any sort of danger in the area, but there just had to be a whole army at the ready in case of emergencies.  
Red made it to Keith’s side before the blow even touched them, Blue coming in close on her tail. Lance, however, was farther out. Keith felt the rumble as he tumbled into the cockpit, sliding his helmet on as Red took to the sky, voices of his team ringing in his ears. Red dragged Lance out of the line of fire as Blue scooped him up before taking off farther into the sky. Adjusting the voices, Keith began calling out to the others.

  
“Pidge, gimme a hand on this side, they’re bringing in bigger weapons!” Pidge barked back a response before Hunk’s voice broke through.

“Guys, where’s Lance?! Oh man did we drop him back there because I never got to thank him for that iron-”

  
“Lance is fine, Hunk, Blue has him out of harms way.” Keith heard collective sighs from the other paladins before Allura’s voice broke through their heads.

  
“Paladins, they’ve brought company!” Keith turned just in time to watch a ship enter the planet’s atmosphere. Sighing, he felt Red rumble in anticipation. Something about fighting and the adrenaline made his lion purr with excitement, but brought the paladin a sense of dread at best.

  
“Couldn’t they just stay quiet and let us refuel in peace?!” Slamming into the ship, he managed to tumble the thing out of the sky. Pidge cheered as they helped Hunk bring down the ships final weapon. Almost knowingly, Shiro warned them not to get too close as the enemy ship tore itself in half, a claw reaching out to swing at the Yellow lion.

  
“Guys! A little help would be GREAT RIGHT NOW!” Hunk cried as he blasted through the claw, attempting to tug himself free.

  
“Keith, Pidge, keep your distance, but aim left! Hunk, aim for the joints, it looks like the armor is weaker there!” Shiro’s voice rang out, and as Keith took aim he heard a groan.

  
“Too..loud..” Shooting right through the robotic ships arm, Keith felt his breath hitch as Lance’s voice slipped through his helmet. Red purred, giving him a weird feeling that Lance wanted to talk to him specifically.

  
“Lance? You okay?” Keith moved Red to Green’s side, helping tug Yellow free as Shiro and the Black lion watched for any more invaders to appear.

  
“What’s going on?” Keith sighed, shooting out the ships cannon just as it twitched back to life. He saw Pidge’s face appear on his screen, rolling eyes at him before mouthing ‘overkill much’ at him. Smirking, he swiped Pidge’s face away from his screen, moving Red closer to the castle.

  
“Ambush. Not intended, just wrong place at the wrong time.” Jeez, that’s an understatement. “Blue, you can bring him around now. It’s safe.”

  
Blue purred, and the line disconnected as Keith made his way into the hanger. Keith rubbed at his neck sorely as he stepped out of Red, feeling Hunk fall into step beside him and exchanging smiles.  
“Jeez, was that rough or what? I thought that was it for me, man.” Laughing, Keith patted Hunk’s back before watching Pidge run up and do the same.

  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Hunk! You got us here, and we sure won’t let some overrated arcade game make a meal of you!” Hunk shuddered, and Keith felt himself laugh once more.

  
“Leave it to you to make me feel scared of arcade games, Pidge.” Grinning, Pidge took several steps ahead, before stopping in front of the Blue lion.

  
“Is he out yet?” Shiro stepped up beside Keith, patting him slightly on the back as Keith shook his head. Hunk felt himself get nervous as the door opened to reveal Lance shuffling slightly out.

  
“Lance! You had us scared back there, are you okay?” Hunk rushed to his friend, gripping him, almost afraid he might disappear if he lets go. Groaning slightly, Keith felt relieved when Lance chuckled at the yellow paladins nerves.

  
“Yeah, I’m alright. Just dizzy is all.” Shiro sighed, but Keith noticed the way his shoulders remained tense. Pidge spoke up, skeptical as Lance had gone missing moments after the chaos began. Keith didn’t blame them for being worried about Lance.

  
“I don’t care what you say, you’re sitting in the healing pod right now.” Pidge made their way past Hunk, tugging Lance along as if he wasn’t double their height and weight. Keith felt Shiro’s hand press on his back, and meeting his gaze, Keith knew what he was implying.

  
“Okay, okay. Pidge, slow down, my head is still shaking.” Lance let himself be tugged along, not noticing Keith falling into step slightly behind him. Pressing his hand to Lance’s back, Keith helped guide him along, much gentler than Pidge was handling the situation. He met Lance’s gaze with a slightly worried one, and felt Lance ease up as Pidge rambled about the fight they had just endured. Shiro and Hunk shared a glance as they quietly followed behind, making their way to the healing pods.

Once they reached the room, Keith noticed Allura already setting one up specifically for Lance, and after some convincing, managed to get him to rest. Pidge commented on wanting to check on Hunk’s lion after the last scrummage, prompting Hunk to follow them as they made their way out of the room. Shiro followed shortly after, mentioning to Allura an idea he recently had.

Keith sat beside the pod before realizing he would be there for a while before Lance would awake. He couldn’t get the thought that Lance had seriously disappeared for the entire mess they made of that planet’s makeshift gas station. What’s worse, he didn’t remember until the very end.   
How could he have been so careless, what if the ship had spotted Lance roaming aimlessly inside Blue way out of the paladins reach? What if they had taken him captive? They would’ve lost Lance, and Keith couldn’t figure out if it would hurt more that they would lose their blue paladin, or if he would have lost Lance. Keith ran all the possibilities in his head, believing himself to be alone until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Startled, he almost shouted before realizing it was only Coran.

“I saw you sitting here, all alone. Are you alright, Keith?” Sighing, Keith let Coran pull him off the ground. “You can sit in silence ominously in another room and I promise it will look just as creepy. However, I really must make sure you eat.”

Keith chuckled, allowing Coran’s rambling to pull him from his thoughts as they made their way into the kitchen. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to grab a snack.’

 

* * *

  
One of the benefits of having two of the most brilliant engineers on board the castle was that whenever the systems sent an alert, they all got word of it immediately. So, when the pods sent out a five minute warning, it didn’t take long for Keith to head back to the pods. Excitement ran through him, blending with the worried feeling that maybe Lance would blame him, or worse, that Lance was upset. An upset Lance was nothing too troublesome, but Keith would do whatever to make sure that boy never frowned again, unless it was well deserved, but even then he was reluctant. Too absorbed by his thoughts, Keith didn’t notice Allura until he nearly shoved her into the door.

“Keith!” Eyes snapping up, he barely caught hold of the Altean before she tripped into the door. “Are you alright?”  
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Princess?” Chuckling, Allura shook her head at the blushing male.  
“Not in this case. You are way too lost in thoughts to walk straight.” As though reading into his mind, Allura smiled at Keith, taking his arm lightly. “He’s fine, Keith.”

“Right.” Keith sighed, letting Allura lead as she patted his shoulder, moving to open the door.  
The moment the doors opened, Keith’s eyes met Lance’s baby blues and he felt his heart race. It’s one thing to be told Lance would be alright, but it was a completely other to be in front of him, watching as he stretches his arms over his head and lets a lazy smile creep on his face. Keith thinks he heard Allura say something, but only after the door shuts behind her does he move towards Lance. He doesn’t know where his brain was, but he was certain it wasn’t being used when he smacks Lance’s arm and Lance actually yelps, Keith can’t help the anger bubbling inside him.

“What the heck was that for?!” The audacity! Keith felt his head roll back as he groaned loudly.

  
“For scaring the daylights out of me! You know how terrifying it is to watch your best friend get knocked out right beside you!? It’s not the best thing ever!” Keith wanted to scream, to yell about how Lance had been so ridiculous, how annoyingly calm he was about this entire situation, but halfway through a broken lecture, he saw Lance’s eyes roll back and with a shrug of his shoulders, he knew Lance was gone. Keith didn’t know what pissed him off more, the fact that he had been panicking over Lance’s well-being, or the fact that Lance wasn’t even listening to him anymore. Sighing, he let himself watch the taller paladin stretch his arms, feeling the anger seep away, and all that remained was-

  
“What?” Lance froze, watching for a reaction from the shorter paladin.

  
“I was worried.” Keith wanted his cheeks to stop burning, crossing his arms in a terrible attempt to keep a straight face.

  
Lance chuckled and, in a mere two steps, closed the distance between them as he wrapped his arms around Keith. Keith let himself relax in his embrace, feeling Lance’s chin rest on his head.

  
“What would I have done if something had happened to you?” By the time the words escaped his mouth, Lance had chuckled and Keith wanted the empty void of space to swallow him whole.

  
“I dunno, probably keep kicking ass. You don’t lose that fire because of me, y’know.” Keith shoved him away weakly, watching Lance laugh loudly with a fond smile. Tugging his sleeve, Keith took a step towards the door.

  
“C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith helped Lance to his bedroom with full intentions of going to his room afterwards, but with one look from Lance he found himself laying on the others bed, staring at the ceiling as Lance played with his hand. Keith was half asleep, grumbling to himself mentally to get back to his own room before Lance broke the silence.

  
“What if something happened to me.” His voice was hushed, as though revealing a secret to Keith. Turning slightly on the mattress, Keith watched the emotions flicker through Lance’s eyes. He wanted to know everything, all the reasons behind those emotions, but sat quietly. Letting Lance take his time was the only way to get more out of him. “You would be fine without me.”

  
“What are you talking about?” Keith urged him, not moving as Lance’s grip on his right hand suddenly became tighter.

  
“You’re an incredible fighter. Shiro is a natural leader. Pidge is a genius and Hunk can disassemble anything and reassemble it better than ever before.” He loosened his grip on Keith’s hand, letting it fall. “You’re all brilliant people, what have I got? Nothing.”

  
“Shut up.” Keith sat up, gripping Lance’s face between his hands firmly. “Shut up right now. You are an incredible pilot, a fantastic listener and the best person I could ever ask for to be my best friend. You are not allowed to think lowly of yourself, do you understand?” It was blunt, like a cold knife on a broken wound, but Keith knew that if he didn't say it now, then when?

  
”But-” Lance tried, but Keith pressed a kiss -harsh and quick and a bit messy- to his lips, silencing him.

  
“I don’t give a damn what anyone says, you are incredible and that’s that.” Keith watched Lance's face turn a brilliant pink, but the uncertainty clung in his eyes.  _Just how broken are you, Lance?_

  
“What if the entire world tells me so? What then?” Keith felt his shoulders sag before stroking Lance’s cheeks with as much love and kindness as he could conjure.

  
“So then we tell the world to fuck off. The world can kiss my ass, you are incredible and so long as the world is round and there are stars in the sky you will be so. You are the most amazing person I have ever met in my life and the world doesn’t deserve someone as beautiful as you, Lance. Do I make myself clear?”

  
Lance laughed, a genuine throaty laugh, and nodded. Keith smiled, letting their lips merge once more.

  
This time, it was as incredible as the stars in the sky.

  
And Keith wouldn’t trade it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I might add another part to this with Keith's pov if that's something you guys would be interested in seeing.  
> Regardless, hope you enjoyed this little drabble of sorts. smiley face.


End file.
